Just to be clear on something: My sticky parts had a superficial layer that came off very very easily with minimum soaking and effort. The tough part is the glue that gets left behind and bonded tightly to the bare plastic surface underneath. I spent so many hours soaking, spraying, rubbing and rinsing the steering console..... I sometimes read posts where people used a certain product and claim that "it came right off". Some of these posts also claim to get the whole sticky issue resolved in 1 weekend which seems unrealistic to me having done the job myself. I think it's possible some are just taking off that initial layer of goo and spray painting directly on top of that without actually scrubbing off all the hard glue underneath?
Okay I let it soak (aluminum F1 paddle) I was able to remove most of the material with medium effort and steel wool. Over all it was no better than the oven cleaner I have used in the past although that was on plastic and this is aluminum so maybe that is the problem. It just doesn't seem to be as wonderful as I hoped. All of my sticky stuff is removed other than the little clips that go on the dash vents so I will try the Lightning on them later. I guess for the aluminum parts it would be much easier to just use paint stripper.
I experienced this on my steering column as well. I thought I had everything off, and then when I got ready to re-finish, it blistered and crazed everywhere. Took me a long long time to get it down to the plastic. The only thing I would add to what's been said is that Plasti-Dip makes a primer that greatly enhances the strength of the Plasti-Dip's bond to the car. I did my interior door handles (high wear part), ash tray, and Steering column a year ago. Now, 2k miles later, they still look and feel great. The primer wasn't available in a spray can at the time, unfortunately, so I shot it with an HPLV gun (paint gun) available for <$50 from Harbor Freight. (I just checked and it appears to be available now in a spray can! I still have a pint left, but might buy some just to save time cleaning out the gun before and after use!)
I soaked my parts in Greased Lightning for about 10 minutes and the sticky finish came right off. It worked great. I plan on doing my vents soon, I didn't know they were sticky, and I plan on doing it the same way. Its available in gallon jugs at Home Depot. If you can't find it locally you can order it online from them.
